National interests will not becompromised, says PM: PTI

The text of the statement of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in both Houses of Parliament regarding peace initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir:Before the Winter Session of Parliament concludes and the House rises for the festival of Christmas, I wish to take this opportunity and share with all honourable members the government's assessment of the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, also along the Line of Control.

Following my announcement of November 19, that during the holy month of Ramzan our security forces would not initiate operations against the militants, also expressing the hope that along the LOC too, infiltration would cease, there have been some encouraging developments. Certain other aspects, however, remain as our continuing concerns.

The government is greatly heartened by the response of the citizens, political parties and other organisations in the state of J&K. Our peace initiative has been widely welcomed there. A distinctly different and a more optimistic mood now prevails in that state. The constituency for peace has
expanded significantly.

There has also been a decline in incidents of terrorist violence in that state. Activities, however, of organisations like Laskhar-e-Tayiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen continue, resulting in most unfortunate and regrettable loss of innocent civilian lives, also of personnel of our security forces.

The government remains firm in its resolve to combating these and other challenges, also to defeating their inhuman and nefarious designs.

There has been a recognisable decline, too, in attempts at cross-LOC and cross-IB infiltration of terrorists. This must cease entirely. The government is committed to achieving this end.

Along the LoC, we have witnessed a marked improvement in incidents of exchange of fire. Relative peace has prevailed all along the LOC, ever since my announcement of November 19, barring some incidents in the early stages.

After careful consideration of all aspects the government has, therefore, taken a decision to extend the
period of 'no initiation of combat operations' by another month. After Republic Day 2001, the government will review the position again.

As the initiator of the dialogue process with Pakistan, India remains committed to it. The existence of a suitable environment for such a process is self-evidently necessary. As part of our continued commitment to the Simla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration, the government will initiate such exploratory steps as are considered necessary by it, so that the composite dialogue process between the governments of India and Pakistan could be resumed.

Let me inform the House that the government's unwavering commitment to meeting the challenge of terrorism remains undiluted. Whereas we will continue to exercise maximum restraint in face of grave provocation, national interests will never be compromised.

I wish to assure honourable members that we remain steadfast in our commitment to restoring lasting peace and to enabling all our citizens from J&K to join as equal partners in India's march to prosperity.